If you open the Firefox browser today, going to the plugins section (from the options> add-ons ), you can see that the Shockwave Flash plugin is disabled. This happened because security researchers have discovered important vulnerabilities in the latest versions of Adobe Flash, which can be used by cryptolocker and ransomware viruses, that is, those who take the PC hostage by blocking access to computer folders.
At the same time Facebook, for the voice of its security manager Alex Stamos, asked Adobe to abandon the Flash plugin because it is too dangerous (replacing it with HTML5 technology) and withdraw it so that it is no longer a risk for world-wide internet users.
Currently the exploits found in the Flash plugin, that is the security vulnerabilities, have been covered and corrected by the latest version of Adobe Flash 18, (18.0.0.209).
If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer, you must immediately install the new version in order not to run the risk of losing control of the computer (on Chrome it updates itself).
The big problem, now visible to everyone after the Hacking Team case and widely explained in the newspapers, is that some exploits and security holes are made known only after a certain period of time if not ever, leaving the whole field to pirates IT and espionage companies to exploit them to their advantage. So if you also update Flash to the latest version, you still can not rest easy.
Even if the plugin is always updated, today more than ever it is evident that Adobe Flash Player is a dangerous software like or more than Java, the other browser plugin now out of use for the continuous security risks (see how to disable Java on browsers to avoid security problems).
Experts advise everyone, immediately, to uninstall Adobe Flash from any browser and from any PC, be it Windows, Linux or Mac .
Personally I think that giving up Flash is a bit too much because it is still widely used on the internet.
In order not to prevent the display of sites in Flash, simply deactivate Flash and, if necessary, use it only when needed, on command .
So if you can give up some flash game site or some old streaming video site, it is worth turning off the plugin on Firefox, Chrome, Safari (on Mac) and Internet Explorer .
- On Chrome, to disable Flash, open a new tab at chrome: // plugins / to see the list of plugins.
Find Adobe Flash and " disable ".
If you don't want to disable Flash completely, but have the possibility to activate it when necessary, for example when you want to open a game or a video, then go to settings, then advanced settings and click on the settings button.
Scroll the list until you find the Plugins section and choose the option Let me choose when to run the contents of the plugins .
This option has been described as click to play on Chrome.
- To disable Flash on Firefox, open the add-ons page from the browser's Tools menu, open the list of plugins, find Shockwave Flash, and select " never activate ".
Alternatively, you can select the ask before activating option, which keeps the plugin at least until you click on it with the mouse.
- To disable Flash on Internet Explorer, click on "Manage add-ons" from the browser settings menu, select " Shockwave Flash Object " and then press the " disable " button below.
- To disable Flash on Safari open the Preferences tab (in the "Safari" menu) and, in the Security menu, go to the " Manage website settings " next to the " Internet plug-in " option, select Adobe Flash Player from the list on the left and block it for all sites from the drop-down menu on the right.
Alternatively, you can select the " Ask " option to choose when to enable Flash.
These settings must be changed on all the browsers of all the computers used. Nothing needs to be done on smartphones because there is no longer a Flash plugin for Android phones, iPhones and others.
READ ALSO: Update the browser plugins (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera) to surf safely
